Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, who has committed to South Carolina, is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, is dealing with the death of his older brother, Tyler, by suicide earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski shows the lighthouse tattoo that reminds him of his older brother, Tyler, who died earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski shows the lighthouse tattoo that reminds him of his older brother, Tyler, who died earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Quarterback Ryan Hilinski, part of the Orange Lutheran football team which starts the 2018 season ranked No. 2 in Orange County, on their practice field in Orange on Friday, August 3, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Quarterback Ryan Hilinski, part of the Orange Lutheran football team which starts the 2018 season ranked No. 2 in Orange County, on their practice field in Orange on Friday, August 3, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran’s Ryan Hilinski throws the ball during a non league game against San Juan Hills in San Juan Capistrano on Friday, August 17, 2018. (Photo by Foster Snell, Contributing Photographer)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, is dealing with the death of his older brother, Tyler, by suicide earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, is dealing with the death of his older brother, Tyler, by suicide earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, is dealing with the death of his older brother, Tyler, by suicide earlier this year. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski after practice in Orange on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Hilinski, who has committed to South Carolina, is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski and his family are dealing with a huge family tragedy after his brother Tyler committed suicide last winter. It was recently discovered that Tyler suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE,, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Editor’s note: This feature is included in the HS Football Preview magazine that is included in Sunday’s home-delivery edition of the Orange County Register and the 10 other papers of the Southern California News Group.

A lighthouse helps navigators of the sea know where they are.

Ryan Hilinski has a lighthouse tattoo on his right forearm. It helps him know where he has been and where he is going.

The lighthouse depicted is on Maui. That is where the Hilinski family spread the ashes of Tyler Hilinski, the second-oldest of three Hilinski brothers. Tyler died by suicide in January.

Tyler Hilinski was a star quarterback at Upland High and was expected to be the starter at Washington State this fall. Oldest brother Kelly went from Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks to Columbia, bounced back to Riverside City College and finished at Weber State.

Ryan, the youngest of the three, is going into his senior year as the starting quarterback at Orange Lutheran.

Southern California News Group has included a sepcial HS Football Preview magazine in its home-delivery edition of Sunday’s paper. The magazine can also be purchased, starting Monday, Aug. 20, at the local offices for the 11 papers in the news group.

“I throw the ball with my right hand,” Ryan said, “and the ball sometimes touches my right forearm when I throw. So it’s like I’ve got Tyler with me when I throw.”

Tyler is on Ryan’s mind in other ways. A coroner’s report showed that Tyler had the degenerative brain condition CTE when he took an ex-teammate’s rifle and used it to fatally shoot himself.

It is a complicated issue for Ryan. He knows football players are susceptible to head trauma that can lead to CTE. Hilinski is confident, too, that he would recognize the onset of CTE and would give up playing football.

His parents, Kym and Mark, have left Ryan’s football decisions to Ryan.

“They know I’m mature enough to decide whether I should keep playing or not,” Ryan said. “Football has earned me all of the stuff I’ve gotten. They don’t want me to just give that away.”

That stuff includes a full-ride scholarship to South Carolina. Ryan, who has gone through plenty of self-examination while making his decision to continue playing football, plans to major in psychology.

Hilinski looks the part of a star quarterback at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds. He is agile, has a powerful and accurate arm and the throwing mechanics of a college-polished quarterback.

Last season as a junior he averaged an Orange County-leading 312 passing yards a game and threw for 33 touchdowns, the fourth-highest figure in the county, as the Lancers played in the toughest league in California, the Trinity League, which includes defending national champion Mater Dei and another recent national champ, St. John Bosco.

Ryan also questions himself, “What would Tyler want me to do?”

His answer …

“I don’t think Ty would want me to stop playing. He knows how much I love it,” Ryan said. “He said to me, ‘You can stop once you start feeling stuff if you’ve had too many concussions. But don’t stop just because you’re scared.’ ”

Orange Lutheran coach JP Presley has seen Hilinski become more focused on football and evolve into a stronger team leader since January.

“Ryan’s maturity level is very high,” Presley said. “He wants to be with his football brothers on this team more than ever, and there’s that sense of senior-year urgency to be the best he can be. That’s where his head’s at.”

Ryan affirmed that on July 17 when he tweeted: “It’s been six months since I’ve heard your encouraging voice. Six months since our last phone call, hug and cry. … I know you’re still with me and I’m going to continue to make you proud brother! … Love you Ty!”

Hilinski’s goals this year are to help Orange Lutheran win Trinity League and CIF championships.

“I think we have the power to do it,” he said. “Any individual goals I have will come with the team goals.”

Hilinski picked South Carolina from many scholarship offers. South Carolina coaches had recruited him steadily since his freshman year at JSerra and through his transfer to Orange Lutheran before his sophomore year. Kym and Mark liked the idea, too, of Ryan playing away from the West Coast.

“My parents don’t want to go to all the Pac-12 stadiums Tyler played in,” Ryan said. “It would be just too hard for them. I already remind them of Tyler when I play, anyway.”

Ryan himself is reminded of Tyler every time he sees that lighthouse on his arm. Lighthouses warn sailors of the dangers that may await them. They also tell sailors that they’re almost home and everything’s going to turn out just fine.

Steve Fryer covers high school sports at the Orange County Register. He writes a weekly column on the county high school sports scene and also covers games and writes features. Steve also writes a weekly column that covers pro and college sports, and other topics. Steve does concert reviews for the Register, too, when time permits. Steve's first byline appeared in the Register in 1979. He was in the inaugural class inducted into the Santa Ana Unified School District Sports Hall of Fame. Steve also is in the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, and was the first journalist to receive the Contribution to Education award from the Orange County Department of Education. Steve was honored as Champion for Character by the CIF-Southern Section.